Margaret’s Story

Margaret was first connected with Lighthouse Guild when she was six years old. She has Stargardt’s disease and was a patient of the former Medical Director, Ophthalmological Advisor, and Director of Lighthouse Guild Low Vision Services, the late Dr. Eleanor Faye. 

She says of Dr. Faye, “She was such a strong woman and very self-assured. [I] was a six-year-old little girl when I met her, and I was amazed this was a female doctor. I mean, here was this woman doctor who was incredibly competent and approachable at the same time. I learned a lot from her, and she was an incredible role model for me.”

Dr. Faye would send Margaret to the Lighthouse Guild optician, who would help her find which magnifying reader was best for her vision at that given time. 

When Margaret was attending college, and living in New York City, she continued going to Lighthouse Guild for follow-up appointments with their optical team to replace and update her magnifiers and readers. They would also show her devices such as magnifiers with lights on them and close circuit televisions (CCTV).

Margaret says, “I was basically doing everything independently, but I needed help with anything that was in print. Everything from large print calendars to simple little things like check templates.” She was able to continue with work and all the other things I needed to do with no problem. 

Margaret feels that one of the best skills that helped get her through high school, college, and graduate school was that she learned how to type and became a great typist at a very early age. So, the magnifiers and readers were the two things she needed, and Lighthouse Guild was her go-to place. 

In recent years, she attended a webinar that included information about Lighthouse Guild and a few other agencies. When hearing about Lighthouse Guild, she thought back to the times that she had often come to us for items that worked well for her, and that’s when she said to herself, “I need to go back to Lighthouse Guild.” She continues, “Of course, I had my list of things I needed, such as help with mobility issues. I am fiercely independent, and for me, now it’s a matter of being in a place where I can advocate for the visually impaired.” 

Margaret says, “I am lucky enough to be very well adapted to my environment. I am out early and jogging every morning, and I know every rut and every problem on the road. And given the fact that my vision has deteriorated over the past four years, I am extremely grateful that Lighthouse Guild is my neighborhood.”

Margaret worked as a Social Worker until retiring just before the COVID pandemic started. Then in 2021, she began seeing Dr. Bruce Rosenthal, Chief of Low Vision Services. Margaret shares, when she comes to Lighthouse Guild, “The building itself is so hospitable. Just walking in, I am very much at ease that the staff is very clear at Lighthouse Guild that they are dealing with the visually impaired. From telling you what floor you are on to when you walk in the door, it is just really a great environment to be in.” 

Regarding Dr. Rosenthal, Margaret says, “Wonderful. Wonderful in the sense that he has very much been extremely responsive, and he is educated in terms of what my issues are, and he introduced me to Dr. Bryan Wolynski, who heads the technology center.” 

After her vision evaluation, Margaret went to the Lighthouse Guild Technology Center.   She says, “I thought it was wonderful. I thought it was absolutely fabulous. I think I am in a different situation in that, having had vision loss over the years and since childhood, I have really adapted to things, and I have met people who haven’t adapted to things either because they were not given the opportunity or not able to do things on their own, or their vision loss was sudden, but I really find that having that type of environment to show people how to do things, how to do things safely, and how to use things, I think is amazing.” 

Margaret was interested in trying the OrCam MyEye device. This small wireless smart camera attaches to the arm of eyeglasses. The camera captures an image of what’s in front of the user and communicates the info audibly. She says, “When I sat down with Dr. Wolynski, I knew he was clearly well versed about the device. After testing it, I said to Dr. Wolynski that it was a game changer for me because I am so independent. I am always going shopping, eating out with friends, and pretty much doing what I want to do without the need to have a huge monitor in front of me with a closed-circuit television.” 

She continues about the new tech she is using, “It’s a part of what allows me to be totally independent. To shop for myself, to know the prices of things, to go out to a restaurant and not depend upon the people with me to read to me what’s on the menu. Literally, it gives me the ability to do independently what the loss of vision prevents me from doing. So, in that sense, it’s amazing.” 

Margaret did not grow up using computers and does not consider herself a technical person. She says, “To have people at Lighthouse Guild like Dr. Rosenthal and Dr. Wolynski, who will really listen to you about what you do and what you don’t do, and say you know, you might be interested in this, or you might be interested in that. They get it immediately about what you need and what’s best for you in terms of accessibility. You just don’t find those people. They are a needle in a haystack. You don’t get that anywhere, and that’s why I think the technology center at Lighthouse Guild is going to be a game changer for people.” 

Margaret says she would tell someone recently diagnosed with vision impairment that “[You] are going to want to adapt your loss of vision into other ways of keeping the quality of your life. People need to know that what is out there is the ability to preserve your quality of life.”